Battle of Andoria
The Battle of Regulus was a conflict fought on the Andorian side of the Vulcan-Andorian border near the Regulus system in 2154, when long-standing tensions between the Vulcans and Andorians escalated into armed conflict with an attempted preemptive strike by the Vulcan High Command against Andoria. The battle would have political repercussions throughout the 2150s. Prelude In 2154, when the Vulcan High Command learned of the Andorian attempt to steal the second Xindi superweapon prototype, Administrator V'Las convinced the High Command that the Andorians were planning to use the prototype to augment their fleet and to create a weapon of mass destruction to use against Vulcan. He proposed that a preemptive strike be mounted to decisively end the threat before it started. For the preemptive strike against Andoria, the Vulcans secretly amassed of fleet of twelve Vulcan cruisers near Regulus, a star outside the range of Andorian listening posts, while using probes to project false warp signatures near Paan Mokar. The Andorians were fooled into believing the Vulcans intended to retake the system and committed the bulk of their fleet there. The plan was for the Vulcan fleet to cross the border quickly and, with the element of surprise, quickly capture Andoria, with minimal loss of life on both sides. However, the Earth starship ''Enterprise'', informed by Vulcan Ambassador Soval of V'Las' plans, sought out Commander Shran to warn him of the incursion. The Andorians were only able to gather six warships at the outskirts of the Andorian system to face the Vulcan fleet, with Enterprise joining them in hopes of preventing war. The combined fleet of one human and six Andorian ships detected the approach of four ''D'Kyr''-type Vulcan cruisers and eight light support craft. They were outnumbered two to one, with Andorian reinforcements not due for hours. However, the combined fleet held its ground, depriving the High Command of an easy victory. The Battle The battle itself was grueling for both sides, although the Vulcans gradually gained the upper hand, but with unanticaptedly high loss. The Vulcan High Command had expected their fleet to be orbiting Andoria by this point. The Vulcans initially refrained from firing on the Starfleet vessel, but when the Enterprise, commanded by Commander Trip Tucker, aided a heavily damaged Andorian ship by firing on the Vulcan ship targeting it, V'Las ordered the fleet to fire on the Enterprise as well. Revelation And Political Upheaval On Vulcan Meanwhile, on Vulcan, the High Command was monitoring the battle. Minister Kuvak urged V'Las to halt the attack, as even though they were currently winning the battle, they had completely lost the element of surprise and were now facing heavy casualties for both sides in a protracted conflict. V'Las dismissed this out of hand saying "We're already commited." When Kuvak went on to protest that none of the Andorian vessels were outfitted with the Xindi weaponry that V'Las had used as justification for the pre-emptive strike, but with standard weaponry only, V'Las ordered his guards to hold Kuvak at gunpoint, and shoot if he attempted to intervene again. Shran and Tucker were on the edge of destruction, when Captain Jonathan Archer and the Syrrannite T'Pau transported into the High Command and entered with the Kir'Shara, the original writings of Surak. V'Las had already dismissed the artifact as a myth, but T'Pau and Archer (guided by the katra of Surak) were determined that it would reveal the original teachings of Surak which the High Command under V'Las had strayed from. Kuvak argued that the possibility that it was indeed the Kir'shara should at least be analysed, but V'Las dismissed the evidence right in front of him. This was the last straw for Minister Kuvak, who neck-pinched the guard that had been holding him and proceed to hold V'Las at gunpoint. Kuvak then ordered the Vulcan fleet to disengage just before Shran and Tucker were overwhelmed, ending the battle at a draw. Aftermath Although from a tactical standpoint the Battle of Regulus was interrupted and indecisive, the political repercussions were greater than most that had occured in the past century: *The Vulcan High Command was dissolved and Administrator V'Las was impeached, pending an investigation that he led Vulcan to a pre-emptive strike under false pretenses. *With the dissolution of the High Command, a new coalition government was formed headed prominently by the moderate Minister Kuvak, member of the defunct High Command, and T'Pau, surviving leader of the pacifistic Syrrannite opposition movement. *The new Vulcan government would enter into a less hostile stance with Andoria, ending years of cold war and military tension. Never again would the Vulcans stoop to such a level as using the P'Jem monastery to hide a sensor array for spying on Andoria. *The new Vulcan government also took a less paternalistic stance towards Earth. For the first time since First Contact with the Vulcans in 2063, humans would no longer have the Vulcans dolefully holding back more advanced technology and limiting expansion of their exploration of space. For Captain Archer, it was a life-long dream finally accomplished. *Though the full translation of the Kir'Shara would take years, as it was finished it would profoundly reshape Vulcan society, helping to reform it back to the peaceful, logical path that Surak had originally intended for it (see IDIC). *Unbeknownst to most at the time, the failure of the Vulcan attempt at conquering Andoria, and the direct responsibility of Earth in foiling the attempt, would ultimately lead to grave consequences with the Romulan Star Empire, which V'Las was secretly an agent for. See Earth-Romulan War. Reference * ENT: "Kir'Shara"